Deion Sanders Will Seek Compensation for Head Injuries Suffered as NFL Player

Hall of Fame cornerback and return specialist Deion Sanders is seeking compensation for head injuries he suffered during his NFL playing days.

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com outlined the situation on Saturday, citing documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times' Ken Bensinger, who reported on the matter earlier in the week.

In those documents, it was revealed that in 2010, Sanders filed a head injury claim under the California workers' compensation system against his former team, the Dallas Cowboys.

The alarming finding in the claim, which is still pending, is that four independent doctors found Sanders to be 86 percent impaired.

This development deviates from Sanders' public stance on the issue of concussion litigation, although concussions are not the specific nature of his lawsuit. Earlier this year, the eight-time All-Pro suggested that about half of the players seeking lawsuit settlements were essentially grabbing for money.

As reported in February by USA Today's Chris Chase, Sanders felt that players weren't being honest about sustaining concussions and thought it was discouraging children from taking up the sport:

The game is a safe game, the equipment is better. I don't buy all these guys coming back with these concussions. I'm not buying all that. Half these guys are trying to make money off the deal. That's real talk. That's really how it is. I wish they'd be honest and tell the truth because it's keeping kids away from our game.

Within the seemingly contradictory context of this unearthed claim Sanders filed, perhaps his stance is defensible as far as the increased safety in equipment in the modern NFL. However, those upgrades and enhancements aren't reflective of the time Sanders was with the Cowboys from 1995 through 1999.

Sanders picked up the last of his two championship rings in Dallas, contributing to the Cowboys' 27-17 Super Bowl XXX win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Nicknamed "Prime Time," the 46-year-old legend has never been afraid to speak his mind in the media as a player or analyst.

This latest revelation, though, shows that Sanders' actions behind the scenes—at least in 2010—reflected concerns about head injuries and safety in football.